Week 15 Flex Favorites

Week 15 Flex Favorites

Happy week 15 to all! We’re here people! It’s finally time for the playoffs. I find this bittersweet though, as we look forward all year long for the start of football season, it inevitably has to end somewhere. The leagues I’ve missed the playoffs have me already strategizing for next year. Meanwhile the leagues I have been fortunate enough to make the playoffs in, have me looking for fantasy gold, or at the very least consistency. Which given the state of running backs and tight ends this season, it’s probably easier to find literal gold than points. But hopefully my Week 15 Flex Favorites will lead you to some fantasy gold.

Should you be so lucky to have a Bye this week, I raise my glass and cheers you on your success, dilly dilly! The rest of you looking to press onward and into the finals, I hope to bestow upon you my knowledge and wisdom in the only way I know how: flex analysis. Hopefully, my breakdowns bring you clarity while you tinker away with your lineups. Stay focused, keep a clear head and don’t second guess yourself. You made it this far, look at the stats and the matchups, you got this.

Juju Smith Schuster (PPR & Standard)Game of the week right here. No, I’m not just saying that because I love the Steelers. The growing divide between these two teams has become historic. The Steelers are on a streak, not having lost a game since October. While history shows us the Pats have beaten the Steelers by at least 15 points in their last 4 meetings. As for this weekend, this matchup is slated to be the highest scoring game of the week. Patriots have allowed the 3rd most receiving yards to wideouts this season and since losing Ryan Shazier, the Steelers secondary is scrambling to fill his shoes.

As for flex potential, given the yards allowed by New England and Bill Belichick’s ability to remove playmakers from relevance, I think Juju Smith Schuster will be playing clean up on targets while Antonio Brown gets covered. Smith has seen a target on 22% of routes run since week 8. Big ben trusts the former Trojan and given Martavis Bryant’s poor catch rating (56.9% for the season) It’ll be Schuster looking to profit on the deep ball and passes not designated for Leveon Bell.

Mohammed Sanu (PPR & Standard)Monday Night vs Tampa Bay. Slot receiver against the Buccaneers. Need I say more? Sanu is ranked as a WR2/Flex in this healthy matchup. As we’re deep into the playoffs, don’t get cute with your lineups. If you have him start him. Bucs have given up the most points to wideouts this season with an average of 42.4 PPR points.

Over the last 4 weeks, Sanu has averaged 56 yards a game and has had 2 touchdowns. For the season he’s second only to Julio Jones for targets with 75 to Jones’ 118. Though he leads in touchdowns with 5 for the season. In the last meeting with the Buccaneers, Sanu went 8 for 9 targets and 64 yards. Let’s also add that Sanu is 7 for 10 within the 20 in the Red Zone and he’s 6 for 6 within the 10. Those are some delightfully consistent stats. Go ahead and flex away with Mo Sanu.

Stefon Diggs (PPR)This is an easy enough pick. The Bengals are terrible, said the Steelers fan… And everyone else nodded in agreement. The Vikings are out to finish what they started this season. Case Keenum is on a roll averaging 274.6 yards a game since their week 9 bye and an average of 2.2 TDs in that same time frame. It helps that Keenum has had such reliable options at wideout.

Adam Theilen is a target monster, though last week Stefon Diggs saw one more snap than he did. Diggs saw 70 for 70 of snaps played while Theilen saw 69 for 69. Diggs does remain second to Theilen in receiving yards for the season and tied with Kyle Rudolph for targets. With Rudolph listed as doubtful and Coach Mike Zimmer saying he’s unlikely to play, I’m thinking Diggs will be fed plenty of targets against a weak Bengals secondary. The consistent completions in the red zone also help add to his upside going into Sunday. Diggs is 6 for 8 within the 20 in Red Zone targets for 4 touchdowns and 5 for 3 within the 10 for 2 touchdowns. Here’s to hoping he makes a grab for the end zone.

Nelson Agholor (PPR)If it weren’t for the loss of Carson Wentz under center, this pick would not be a question. Instead, Agholor has Foles chucking it to him. Foles is a decent enough ball manager to not screw the pooch with this friendly matchup though. The Giants have allowed the 8th most points in PPR scoring to wide receivers this season.

Over the past 2 weeks, Agholor has shown some consistency with an average of 7.5 catches, and 102.5 receiving yards. Zach Ertz has cleared the concussion protocol, so he will pull from Agholor targets. Though even with that, I could see the Eagles still having a big game against such a weak Giants secondary.

Mike Davis (Standard)Seattle will host the Rams, who have been on an offensive streak. The Rams are a team that can be run on however as proven by Minnesota who had 35 attempts for 171 rushing yards, and 2 touchdowns on them in week 11. Since being trampled by the Vikings, they’ve consistently allowed at least 100 yards rushing a game. In week 12 they allowed the Saints to have 123 rushing yards and a single rushing TD. Week 13 was 118 rushing yards and a rushing TD against the Cardinals. Last week, the Eagles had 114 rushing yards on the Rams. Seattle’s run game is strong when healthy, the current hot hand looks to be ready to put in some work.

The Seahawks’ new bell cow appears to be Mike Davis. With Chris Carson out, Prosise out, Rawls and Lacy handing out hot dogs in the stands, the workload has fallen to Davis. He made the most of his 30 snaps in week 14 with 15 attempts for 66 yards. In week 13, he had 4 receptions for 37 yards in addition to 16 rushing attempts for 64 yards. Davis did sustain a rib injury during the week 14 contest, but he was listed as a full participant in practice on Thursday. Barring any major setbacks, he appears ready to take on LA.

Kerwynn Williams (PPR & Standard)The Cardinals travel to Washington to throw down with the Redskins. With Palmer out, David Johnson still sidelined, and Adrian Peterson taking his seat on the season-ending IR bench with his neck injury, it’s hard to see a bright spot outside of the ageless Larry Fitzgerald.

Thankfully for Arizona, Kerwynn Williams appears ready to lead the running game against a Skins defense that has allowed over 15 fantasy points to 8 different running backs this season. Wiliams has had 14 attempts within the 20 for 26 yards and a touchdown in the Red Zone. He has also had 37 touches in the last 2 weeks.

Dede Westbrook (PPR)Sunday Jacksonville was in need of a wideout after losing Hurns in week 10. Westbrook coming off injury eased his way in during week 11 and had his first touchdown last week. 80 Receptions 1524 yards his Senior year lead to Westbrook receiving first-team All-American honors.

Dede Westbrook saw 76% of snaps he played against the Seahawks in week 14. As he quickly begins to gobble up snaps, the Jags are happy to have another option for Blake Bortles to Bortle to. Now with the next matchup being against a Texans defense that has allowed the seventh most yards to wideouts, Westbrook’s opportunities should continue to feed him for deep league flex viability.

So that was Week 15 Flex Favorites, thanks for reading! Keep The Fantasy Authority on your favorites bar, as we have tons of awesome weekly content this season! I’ll be back next week with more flex favorites in the championship week! Hope you get there and good luck!

I live in Long Beach, CA. Absolutely obsessed with Fantasy, been playing for over 7 years and there is no end in sight. I'm a graphic designer for Sports Research, a health & fitness company. When I'm not writing I can be found at the gym, as I've gotten really into fitness. This year I competed in 2 bikini competitions, a very rewarding experience full of glitter to balance out all the football talk.